Grandma and Grandpa Longneck
Grandpa and Grandma Longneck, voiced by Bill Erwin and Kenneth Mars, and Linda Gary and Miriam Flynn, are characters in the ''Land Before Time'' films and television series. They are each Apatosaurus, which is one of many species referred to as "Longnecks" by the characters in the franchise. They are Littlefoot's grandparents, and his primary caregivers after his mother's death. They act as parents to Littlefoot; giving him advice when needed, and take the responsibility of protecting him very seriously. Their real names have not yet been revealed, as nearly everyone in the Great Valley refers to them as "Grandma and Grandpa Longneck"; even each other, and Topsy (a.k.a. Mr. Threehorn) continually refers to Grandpa as "Longneck". Character Position in the Great Valley They provide a voice of reason in the Great Valley, trying to make peace between the dinosaurs when times become hard. Detailed analysis of the film series shows that Littlefoot's grandfather has assumed a leadership position among the dinosaurs of the Valley, performing many important roles such as: *Welcoming visitors and newcomers. He is seen doing this in The Land Before Time IV: Journey through the Mists, when the migrating herd of Longnecks (who happen to be related to Grandma and Grandpa Longneck) arrives, and in The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock, when Doc shows up, and saves Littlefoot from falling off a cliff during a game. *Passing judgement on criminals, which he is shown doing in The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire. He is the one who decides that Pterano shall, instead of his original punishment, be banished to the Mysterious Beyond for a reduced period of five cold times (or winters) on account that Pterano helped to save the children from the erupting volcano, Threehorn Peak, and to bring them back to the Valley. *Deciding a course of action for the herds of the Valley; seen in The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island, when he points out the skeleton of a Parasaurolophus. ''He mentions that it was heading away from the direction the Great Valley residents are heading in after a swarm of Leaf Gobblers (locusts) devoured all the green food in the Great Valley. The ''Parasaurolophus, (or "duckbill", as referred to by the TLBT characters) starved to death, so Grandpa Longneck deduces that there is no food in the direction they're heading, and suggests that they alter course. *Managing natural resources such as water; also seen in The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island. *Providing for the common defense in times of danger. This is seen in The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure, and in The Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving; both in which he fights (with help from a few other adults) against the Sharpteeth. Family Grandpa Longneck is also shown to be a very loving husband to his wife (a song from part IV indicates that institutionalized marriage does exist in the Land Before Time universe) and a kindly grandfather-figure not only to Littlefoot but to all the young dinosaurs of the Valley. He, in fact, has been known to tell children stories in the evenings, usually near a geothermal heat-vent (meant to represent the dinosaur equivilent of telling stories around the campfire). In The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock, when he is first seen doing so, he reveals that most of the stories he tells are stories he heard from his own grandfather when he was a child. It is implied in The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration, when Littlefoot first meets his father, Bron, that Littlefoot's mother was the daughter of Grandma and Grandpa Longneck, as Bron refers to Grandpa as "Papa Longneck" instead of "Father". Due to Grandpa's kindly and amiable demeanor, it can be assumed that he was a good father to his late daughter. He also gets along well with Bron, his suggested son-in-law. As seen in Land Before Time, after being separated from Littlefoot, his grandparents gave up hope of ever seeing either him or their daughter again and went searching for the Valley. On the way, they met other dinosaurs who joined their search for the Valley as well, not unlike how their children also found and joined each other. It is likely at this time that he was formally introduced to Topsy and assumed the leadership of the combined herds. As of the moment, Grandpa and Grandma Longneck live happily in the Great Valley, though they occasionally meet with relatives as in the Part IV or leave and coincidentally meet with other longnecks as in Part X. It is implied that their cousins, the migrating herd of Longnecks, are related to them on Grandma Longneck's side. Personality Grandpa Longneck has been shown to be rather undecided in his beliefs. This is quite unlike his daughter, who stated that "somethings you see with your eyes; others, you see with your heart" and whose ghost in the first film shows that the "supermundane" does indeed exist in their world. In The Secret of Saurus Rock he tells the children legends of heroic dinosaurs and of the mystical Saurus Rock that protects the Valley, but when asked whether the stories are really true, claims not to know. However, during The Great Migration he intuitively knows that he must go and that he must re-enact the longneck creation myth. Grandma Longneck is a lot firmer in her beliefs; showing skepticism towards the legends that Grandpa Longneck tells the children. Grandma and Grandpa Longneck, though among the less bigoted residents in the Great Valley, are shown to have a prejudiced view on Sharpteeth, with Grandpa Longneck saying they are not very smart. However, he is not so judgemental towards them as his son-in-law, who despises them as cowards. Neither Grandma nor Grandpa Longneck appears to mind Chomper, though. Reception Character-animation designer Bunis Yang and Kenneth Mars, the current voice provider for Grandpa Longneck, received a DVD Premiere Award nomination for Best Animated Character Performance in 2003, for the character of Grandpa. The nomination, however, lost to voice actress Anjelica Huston, animation directors Gino Nichele and Sebastian Brodin, and character designers Jean Gillmore and Sean Newton, for the character Gothel from Barbie as Rapunzel.DVD Exclusive Awards Ceremony of January 2003, at the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on January 15th, 2009. Bonnie Sayers, on Epinion.com, said that one of the factors she thought best about The Land Before Time IV: Journey through the Mists was the emphasis made on the family love between Littlefoot and his grandfather.Bonnie Sayers' review of The Land Before Time IV: Journey through the Mists, on May 13th, 2001 www.epinion.com No. 22314520196 Retrieved on April 13th, 2008 Trivia *Littlefoot has under belly markings identical to those of Grandma Longneck, unlike his mother who bore her suggested father Grandpa Longneck's under markings. Grandpa Longneck has a type of light grape under belly marking's while his wife Grandma Longneck has a gold/copper under belly marking's. *Grandpa Longneck's health appears to be frailer than that of his wife, although he is shown to still be a strong fighter. *Grandpa and Grandma Longneck have appeared in all The Land Before Time films. *Kenneth Mars who provides the voice of Grandpa Longneck also did a voice in another dinosaur movie. He was the voice of Professor ScrewEyes the villain in the 1993 Steven Spielberg Dinosaur Cartoon Movie We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story. *Kenenth Mars died Feburary 15th 2011, so it is unknown if there will be any sound alike voice to replace him. * Kenneth Mars is well known to play King Triton in Disney's The Little Mermaid. References Category:Longnecks Category:Fourfooters Category:Dinosaurs Category:Land Before Time characters Category:1988 introductions